


A Thousand Miles Away

by The_lazy_eye



Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Bill comes in clutch, Fluff, Honestly this is pure fluff, I'm writing fluff and not angst?, M/M, Mentions of the Other Losers, Mutual Pining, Richie Spends a summer away from Derry, Summer Fic, Tumblr Prompt, short and sweet, what a time to be alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 07:23:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15724689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_lazy_eye/pseuds/The_lazy_eye
Summary: Maybe he didn’t miss Richie at all. Maybe he was happy Richie was gone. Maybe it was like a breath of fresh air to have a summer without the loud and obnoxious trash mouth hanging around.





	A Thousand Miles Away

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt filled on Tumblr:
> 
> Richie has to go on a trip with his parents for like two months and the losers always tell him whats going on while he's gone and Eddie won't admit it, but he fucking misses that boy more than anything, they were having a sleepover and Eddie fell asleep hugging the bear (with glasses) that Richie got him really fucking tight and bill takes a picture and sends it to Richie  
>  

All things considered, everything was going according to plan. His father had been selected from a number of renowned dentists to fly to England for a convention on dentistry and the latest developments in the field. This included techniques, technology, and strategies for private practice. It was basically a how-to on making a butt load of money and keeping your patients happy. Went always said, “A happy patient is a happy paycheck.”

That’s how Richie ended up overseas for two months. The convention was only a week long, but Went was top in his field and owned his own practice so the family took the opportunity to extend and enjoy their time. Went left the practice in the hands of a trusted partner and frequently checked in via phone. Maggie was a stay at home wife, leaving behind only a book club, a wine tasting group, and losing out on a few Tupperware parties. Oh well, such is life.

Richie, however, was missing an entire summer with his friends which was, to a fifteen-year-old boy, the absolute end of the world. His parents told him time and time again that traveling Europe was the opportunity of the lifetime and that he should be enjoying this as much as possible. He was trying to, he really was. He only fought with his parents in the beginning during the convention. They took him to see Big Ben, that giant Ferris wheel thing, and those big stone things out in the middle of the field. He had to admit it was cool to see it all, even if he was bored out of his mind sometimes.

They went out to eat to a lot of fancy places, he had to learn English slang such as asking to use _the loo_ and trying to find something decent to watch on _the telly_. Chips were actually fries and even though the drinking age was lower overseas he still couldn’t drink legally. They went everywhere by train. They spent their first month in England and planned to travel to France, Germany, and Ireland for the second month. By the start last week in August he would be on a plane home to his friends where he would get one solid week with them before school started up again.

It was hitting the fifth week line when the ache in Richie’s chest got unbearable. He was having the adventure of a lifetime but he missed his friends. He spent time on the phone with them when he could, gossiping with Bev and getting all of the latest bird sightings from Stan. Ben sent him letters with drawings and Ben sent him sappy poetry signed by all the Losers. Mike sent some letters, too, talking about the farm life in general. Mike had a strong, trusting presence, even in his letters. He was calm and level headed and Richie knew he was getting the most accurate, unbiased information on what their summers were like from him.

Eddie was the hardest to get in touch with. Long distance phone calls were expensive and his parents only let him call so often, not that Sonia wouldn’t intercept the call and screen it, effectively wasting Richie’s weekly call allowance. Letters were hard, also. Sonia was the one who got the mail. Richie needed to send a litter to another loser, have that loser get it to Eddie and then repeat the process to get a letter back to Richie. It was rough and dodgy at best, especially now that Richie was gearing up to really travel countries instead on staying in London.

He had gotten only two letters back from Eddie in response to the three he sent. On his third letter he told Eddie not to write back because he wasn’t sure where he was staying yet. He’d get that information to Bill and then Bill would pass it to Eddie and the others. This only made the process of getting a response even longer.

It was killing him. He was getting more from everyone except for the person he wanted to hear from the most. Eddie was the spit to his fire, the jack in his box, his partner in crime. Europe has been especially prank free but if Eddie were here? This city would burn to the ground.

Even what he was getting from Eddie felt like scraps. His first letter to Eddie had been two entire pages, detailing the food he ate, how boring the convention was, and what he was seeing and doing in London. He talked about how much he missed everyone, especially his cutest and bestest friend. Eddie’s response had been hardly a page. He told Richie he was glad he was having fun and that he missed him, too, all while calling him a jackass and leaving out all the details of his own summer. The letter felt vacant, empty. Emotionless. Richie would never tell anyone but it hurt a little bit, deep in his ribs and down his spine.

The second letter Richie wrote was three pages filled with his adventures and expectations. He was begging in between the lines for Eddie give him something to grasp onto. There were mom jokes, short jabs, and flirty compliments everywhere. Eddie’s next letter had been a little longer but it was still a shell of the boy he missed. Eddie only responded to the things Richie wrote. He never gave Richie anything else to hold onto.

Richie didn’t understand. His phone calls with Bev were an hour long and could always keep going. Stan’s were the same. Bill’s parents paid the international charge so they got to stay on the line for two hours. Mike’s letters were incredibly detailed and Ben’s poetry was the most frequent mail he received. Eddie was the only one who was distant. He asked Bill about it one week on the phone but Bill had shrugged it off saying Eddie was fine around them.

Maybe he didn’t miss Richie at all. Maybe he was happy Richie was gone. Maybe it was like a breath of fresh air to have a summer without the loud and obnoxious trash mouth hanging around.

Richie didn’t linger too long on those thoughts. He knew he would break his own heart and make the final weeks of his travel even harder.

Richie’s first week outside of London was spent in France. Richie saw the old city for what it was, traveling tourist spots like the Eiffel Tower and eating fish eggs which, by the way, who the fuck wants to eat that?

Two days before they were set to leave for Germany Maggie called to the common area of their lodging arrangements. She handed him a simple envelope addressed to him from Bill.

 _What the hell?_ Bill and him talked on the phone every week, why was he sending him a letter? He hadn’t mentioned sending anything over. Or did he? Richie couldn’t remember. He thanked his mom either way and headed back towards his room to finish packing the things he wouldn’t need for their last two days.

He sat down on the bed and quickly tore open the envelop, removing the contents and setting them on the bed. Inside where two things: a handwritten letter and what looked like a folded polaroid picture. He picked the letter up first.

_Richie,_

_I’m going to keep this short and sweet. Here is a small something to hold you over until we see you again in August. Don’t ask for anymore because it’s not happening. I just thought you should see it. Maybe it’ll make this process quick and painless for everyone._

_Bill_

What the fuck does that mean?

Richie reached towards the folded picture quickly, eager to figure out what the hell Bill was talking about. He unfolded the polaroid and, at first, didn’t understand what he was seeing.

The picture was dark and blurred, but after a second he could clearly see a person sleeping in it. They were on a bed, a blanket wrapped around their feet and their face buried into something. Richie knew immediately that this person was a he and that he was Eddie Kaspbrak.

Richie felt his heart both simultaneously speed up and break all at once and put the picture down. Why would Bill send him this? Does he _know?_ Richie couldn’t understand how Bill could possibly know. Richie kept his real feelings locked tight in his chest. People only saw what he wanted them to see and even then, it was a far cry from the truth.

Richie picked the photo up again, unable to help himself. Maybe Eddie hated him, if the letters were any indication, but he could still indulge himself in the privacy of a locked room thousands of miles away.

Richie looked again, more closely this time. Eddie was beautiful. He was on his side, his mouth hanging open slightly. It looks like he might have gotten taller, his skin tanner from days out in the sun. Some of his baby fat had melted away and his hair was hanging in his face. Richie couldn’t believe Eddie was transforming right before their eyes and he wasn’t there to see it. He would give anything to have Eddie there or to be there with Eddie. He doesn’t need anything from Eddie, he never did. Just Eddie’s presence alone is enough to fill Richie’s heart and leave him happy and bright.

Richie moved to turn and put the photo safely in his suitcase when something caught his eye in the upper corner of the photograph. Eddie’s face wasn’t buried in just anything, it was buried in the worn, light brown plush of a teddy bear. The exact teddy bear Richie had won for him three years ago. Richie knew it was the one because, as a joke, he stitched an old and broken pair of his childhood glasses to the bear and gave it to Eddie, exclaiming, “Now you’ll always have me with you, Eds!”

Eddie was sleeping, curled up with his face in the stuffed toy Richie had won for him _three years_ ago _._

_Here is a small something to hold you over_

Fuck.

He couldn’t wait to go home.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me or send me more writing prompts at Reddie-For-Anything@tumblr.com


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